Theme 1: Prevention

Focused on the underlying mechanisms and prevention of dementia

Team 1: ClinicalGenetics and Gene Discovery is led by Dr. Peter St. George-Hyslop, whose lab discovered 9+ new genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Team 2: Inflammation & Nerve Growth Factors is led by Dr. Claudio Cuello, who leads a research team working on the multidisciplinary aspects of brain repair and brain aging.

Team 3: Protein Misfolding is led by Dr. Neil Cashman, who oversees two labs dedicated to investigating why misfolded proteins cause disease in surrounding cells (such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s).

Team 4: Synapses & Metabolomics is led by Dr. Robert Bartha, who develops unique MRI methods to observe diseases of the human brain and body with the objective of producing new insights to improve patient care.

Team 5: Lipid & Lipoprotein Metabolism is led by Dr. Cheryl Wellington, who focuses on genetic and environmental risk factors for dementia by examining lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in the brain.

Team 6: Nutrition, Exercise and Lifestyle in Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention is led by Dr. Carol Greenwood, whose studies aim to identify nutrition strategies that support optimal cognitive function with aging. Specifically, Greenwood and her team study the relationships between lifelong dietary patterns, risk of cognitive decline with aging, and how diet-associated vascular and metabolic disorders affect this decline. Greenwood’s team is set to launch a clinical trial exploring the effects of diet and exercise on the brain’s structure and its cognitive performance. The study will include older adults who have subjective cognitive decline (i.e. self-reported perception of memory or cognition problems) and vascular risk factors. These groups have been targeted because they are at high risk for both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementias (and their combination), but are still performing cognitively within a normal range. Individuals within these groups can also experience lifestyle-associated risk factors (including obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes) which can each be managed through better lifestyle choices. Simply put, early diet and lifestyle interventions may be most effective within these groups. To learn more, click here.